Whitewater Hearings July 29, 1994 - Statement of Senator Duncan Faircloth.
Whitewater Hearings July 29, 1994 - Statement of Senator Duncan Faircloth.
Hearings relating to Madison Guaranty S and L and the Whitewater Development Corporation. Opening Statement of Senator Duncan Faircloth.
Whitewater Hearings July 29, 1994 - Statement of Senator Duncan Faircloth.
Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. ( D Michigan) Senator Faircloth. Senator Duncan Faircloth (R North Carolina). Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On January 20, Janet Reno appointed Robert Fiske to investigate her boss, President Clinton. Because of Robert Fiske, the Banking Committee can only talk about two things at this hearing: First, the handling of the criminal referral that named the Clintons as possible beneficiaries of criminal activity. Second, the investigation into the suicide of Vince Foster and whether or not the Clinton Administration attempted to influence that investigation. Because of Robert Fiske, we cannot talk about Bill and Hillary Clinton's Whitewater partnership and how they benefited from tax back money diverted from Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan. Because of Robert Fiske, we cannot talk about Hillary Clinton's influencing a regulator to keep that savings and loan open, despite the fact it was insolvent and should have been shut down. Because of Robert Fiske, we cannot talk about how that interference helped cost the American taxpayers over $60 million. Because of Robert Fiske, we cannot talk about how the convicted cocaine distributor Dan Lassiter bankrolled the Clinton campaigns, paid off the President's half-brother's drug debts, and then got sweetheart bond deals from the State of Arkansas.
Whitewater Hearings July 29, 1994 - Statement of Senator Duncan Faircloth.
Senator Duncan Faircloth (R - North Carolina). Robert Fiske was appointed Special Counsel only after months of stonewalling by the President and according to Roger Altman's diaries, by the First Lady also. Even then, it was only after the investigatee Bill Clinton, decided he was ready to be investigated, rather he could not block it any longer, that Fiske was appointed. Fiske's independence has been seriously questioned. President Clinton's former legal counsel, Bernard Nussbaum, recommended his friend Robert Fiske for a job with former Iran Contra prosecutor, Lawrence Walsh. Nussbaum and Fiske have worked on the same side together in at least two legal cases. Robert Fiske's law firm represented the company that sold the land to Bill Clinton's Whitewater partnership. Bernard Nussbaum also consulted with Robert Fiske on at least two high-level Administration appointments. One was the nomination of Louis Freeh to be the director of the FBI, an agency that would later assist Fiske's investigation. Now, Robert Fiske is supposed to be investigating Nussbaum. What's more, Robert Fiske also worked with President Clinton's lawyer in Paula Jones sexual harassment case, Robert Bennett. They worked together on a case involving the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, also known as BCCI. BCCI was a scandal-plagued $10 billion bank failure that has been implicated in alleged wrongdoing involving the Arkansas phase of Whitewater which Robert Fiske has banned us from even talking about here today.
Whitewater Hearings July 29, 1994 - Statement of Senator Duncan Faircloth.
Senator Duncan Faircloth (R - North Carolina). Despite the fact that Robert Fiske can investigate any crime, he would not investigate the commodity trading activities of Hillary Clinton when she took a $1,000 initial investment and turned it into a $100,000 profit with the help of the lawyer from Tyson Foods. Robert Fiske would not investigate Hillary Clinton's commodity trades because he said the statute of limitations on securities fraud had expired. Yet if there was security fraud, there was also probably tax fraud and there is no statute of limitations on tax fraud. Still, Robert Fiske would not even investigate. Robert Fiske's response to media requests for documents that they were legally entitled to under the Freedom of Information Act was to stonewall. Robert Fiske's response to the Senate request for documents to prepare for this hearing was to send only part of the documents, and even then, whole sections were missing from the documents that were sent. The lawyers called this redaction. But common sense tells you it is biding information that would be embarrassing to the Clintons. But when the Clinton White House asked Robert Fiske to allow them to review Treasury documents in order to prepare for these hearings, Robert Fiske provided them documents back in May. The Fiske Report we have here today is a superficial document that says a lot more about the White House and Robert Fiske than it does Vince Foster. The American people deserve better.
Whitewater Hearings July 29, 1994 - Statement of Senator Duncan Faircloth.
Senator Duncan Faircloth (R - North Carolina). One last point. The cover-up continues here today. Captain Charles Hume of the Park Police said at his deposition that he would be available to be a witness that he could be reached at any time. And now the chief of the Park Police says be cannot find Charles Hume, cannot find him today. We will say more about this later, but the United States Park Police need to know that this will not go away. I thank you.